Old Heidelberg
Cast & Crew
John Emerson
Wallace Reid
Dorothy Gish
Karl Formes Jr.
Eric Von Stroheim
Raymond Wells
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Karl Heinrich, the heir apparent to the principality of Rutania, leads a lonely existence in the royal palace, cut off from other children and the teeming life of Heidelberg. As a young man, he is sent to the university in Heidelberg where he finally enjoys the festive company of his peers and falls in love with Kathie, his only childhood friend and an innkeeper's niece. The strident political atmosphere of Rutania forces Karl to return to the palace and consider adopting a course toward war, but after visiting and talking with his subjects in the town, he concludes that peace is the better way. In order to secure peace with the neighboring country, however, Karl must marry its princess and desert Kathie, his true love. On a final visit to old Heidelberg, Karl bids Kathie goodbye and assumes his lonely, kingly duties.
Director
John Emerson
Cast
Wallace Reid
Dorothy Gish
Karl Formes Jr.
Eric Von Stroheim
Raymond Wells
J. W. Mcdermott
James Gibson
Franklin Arbuckle
Madge Hunt
Erik Von Ritzau
Kate Toncray
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to many modern sources, John Emerson hired Erich von Stroheim as a technical advisor and as an assistant director on this film. After the film opened, the Shubert Co. sued the Triangle Film Corp. and Fine Arts for copyright infringement, claiming that the scenario was based on an English translation of the stage version of the Meyer-Förster novel for which the Shubert Co. owned the rights, but a judge dismissed the suit in late 1918 after determining that the film was based on an English translation of the novel, written by Max Chapelle (pseudonym of Max Schaaf) in 1903. The actor Erik von Ritzau was listed erroneously in reviews as Erik von Titzau.
The 1924 operetta The Student Prince with book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly and music by Sigmund Romberg was based on the novel. Other films based on the novel or the operetta include The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, a 1927 M-G-M film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.5452), and The Student Prince, a 1954 M-G-M film directed by Richard Thorpe and featuring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom and the voice of Mario Lanza.
